


Days Like These Lead To Nights Like These (Lead To Love Like Ours)

by asirenofbeauty



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Barista Clary Fray, Barista Simon Lewis, F/F, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, University Student Isabelle Lightwood, coffee shop AU, everyone's a mundane, supportive Simon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 19:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9086746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asirenofbeauty/pseuds/asirenofbeauty
Summary: Clary knows next to nothing about the girl, except that her name’s Isabelle, she’s a student from the university across the street, and she’s kind of ridiculously gorgeous, but she’s pretty sure she’s in love with her.  In her defense, Simon is also sorta half in love with her too (even if he’s been in a long term, committed relationship for the past nine months, to their manager to boot), so it’s not really like she’s the weird one here.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [static_abyss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/static_abyss/gifts).



> Beta'd by gayclaryfray of the Shadowhunters Beta Net
> 
> Prompt: Friends to Lovers fic, with the tiniest dash of the alt world.

“Thanks, come again,” Clary says with an automatic smile as she hands the customer his drink, her gaze meeting his for just a few seconds before darting back to the figure that’s hurrying across the street.  Already her hands are reaching for a blank cup, steaming the milk for her next customer’s drink.

Clary knows next to nothing about the girl, except that her name’s Isabelle, she’s a student from the university across the street, and she’s kind of ridiculously gorgeous, but she’s pretty sure she’s in love with her.  In her defense, Simon is also sorta half in love with her too (even if he’s been in a long term, committed relationship for the past nine months, to their manager to boot), so it’s not really like she’s the weird one here.  Though really, who wouldn’t be?  Isabelle is stunning, sure, but from what little Clary knows about her, the girl has one of those hearts of gold.  Any time she’s in the café, no matter how tired or stressed she looks, she always smiles at anyone who crosses her path, and is always patient and extra nice to the baristas behind the register and bar, even when they have a line nearly out the door and it takes that much longer to get her drink.  She never complains if her order happens to get overlooked, and is always simply polite and nice to everyone.  Basically, she’s every barista’s dream customer, and it shouldn’t be that surprising that to Clary, she’s just her dream girl too.  She just doesn’t know it, and Clary doesn’t know how to even open her mouth and say more than two words to her, either.

The bell above the door rings, signaling a new customer, and Clary can see Simon glance up from the corner of her eye.

“Isabelle,” he greets her, and Clary can hear his smile in his voice. “The usual? I think Clary’s got it started already.”

“Por favor, but with an extra shot. It’s one of those days.” The reply comes with a small laugh, and she glances up in time to catch Isabelle turning her way with a teasing smile. “You guys know me too well already. One day I’ll try to come in with something completely different in mind, and see if I can catch you off guard.”

Simon chuckles, and rings her up, giving her a small wave before moving on to the next customer, leaving Isabelle to make her way to the end of the bar as she puts her change back in her purse.

Clary’s in the middle of pulling the shot when she glances up again, feeling Isabelle’s eyes on her. When their gazes meet, she can’t help but blush. “So,” she says, clearing her throat when her words get caught there, “Rough day?”

“Yeah. The project I’m working on is turning out to be a lot harder than I expected, and taking up more time than I’d given my professor in my outline. And I’m close to the deadline for it, so I have to either figure out if I can modify it to get it turned in on time, or ask for an extension.” A small sigh escapes her lips as she tosses a lock of her dark hair over her shoulder, her fingers playing with a straw and painting a picture Clary wish she had time to sketch.  The frown is replaced quickly with a bright smile as soon as Clary places the now completed drink in front of her, and her fingers itch with the desire to sketch that even more. “These always help, though.”

“Well, it’s what we’re here for,” Clary says with a small laugh, her cheeks heating up a bit once more. “You know where to find us if things get too hectic over there,” she says, jutting her chin towards the windows, meaning the university.

Isabelle’s hands cup the warm beverage, and she smiles at Clary once more before pushing away from the counter. “I might just be taking you up on that offer in a bit,” she replies, winking at her before flicking her fingers in a small wave.

Clary can hear her pulse in her ears as she watches Isabelle take a deep breath before braving the rain to run across the street.

***

“You need to just ask her out already,” Simon says the next time Isabelle comes in, shaking his head as he watches Clary watch the other girl leave, wearing a stupid smile on her face.

It’s a couple days after their first real conversation, and Clary’s gotten braver when it comes to talking to Isabelle. Words seem to come easier, and there’s less of a tongue-tied feeling whenever she sees her.  It helps a bit that she’s gotten into the habit of having Isabelle’s drink ready and nearly finished by the time she reaches the register, and she can just walk it over and hand deliver it, getting rewarded with one of those bright smiles that she seems to have an endless supply of.

Depending on the day and how much work she’s left back at the lab, too, sometimes Isabelle will stick around and claim one of the chairs by the fireplace for herself, setting up her laptop and her music and doing some work while she enjoys her cinnamon latte.  Other times she’ll give herself a few minutes to spare and hang around the hand off bar and chat with Clary for a bit.  Those are the moments that she’s come to look forward to most, when she can have the time to have casual conversations with Isabelle and not feel pressured by either her work calling her back to the university, or the line of drinks Clary has waiting for her undivided attention whenever she’s on bar.  It certainly helps that she’s become more relaxed around her and doesn’t trip over her words as often, making the whole exchange much easier and far less embarrassing to Clary.

Except for the moments when her little bubble of happiness gets popped by Simon bringing up that suggestion, yet again.

It’s not even a suggestion now - they’ve moved past the point of him telling her that she should ask her out instead of mooning over her, which Clary has to admit she probably does pretty often now that Isabelle’s visits have become more and more regular, on top of what they already were, but it doesn’t mean she likes having it pointed out.  It’s not helpful.  Just because Simon managed to get his boyfriend to agree to go out with him because he stumbled over his words and wrote little messages on his cup, (which apparently, he considered cute,) it doesn’t mean it works for Clary.  It’s not even that she’s that shy when it comes to asking people out, something she had no problem doing with her previous girlfriend, but something about Isabelle makes the words impossible to get out.

Maybe she’s just a little intimidated, or afraid of rejection.  Which is understandable, she thinks.  After all, Isabelle is beautiful.  She could have any boy or girl she wanted, and chances are, she already does.  Clary has seen her on a number of occasions laughing and looking incredibly comfortable with both two guys that looked to be around her age or maybe a bit older, and a stunning blonde that she assumed was a girlfriend or a potential one.

Simon had assured her that the taller of the guys had to be the brother Isabelle had mentioned before, which Clary would give to Simon’s point, but the blonde and the one with blue in his dark hair seemed to clearly not be related to her, and so long as those relationships had the potential of being romantic, she wasn’t interested in making a fool of herself and get rejected.

“Simon,” Clary starts as she preps the milk pitcher for the latte in front of her, “I’m not gonna ask her out. Not only does she probably already have someone she’s seeing, but a girl like that is way out of my league.  Why bother if I know I’m just gonna get shot down?”

“But you don’t know you are.”

“Well, I don’t know I’m not, so why take the chance.”

At that Simon laughs, and Clary is tempted to reach over and punch him in the arm for it. “You’ve got it bad, Clary Fray,” he says instead, pushing his glasses back up his nose before turning to greet a customer, cutting her off before she can retort with a snarky reply.

***

The next time Clary sees Isabelle, it’s later than she normally comes in.  One of their baristas called in sick a few hours earlier, and with no one else available to cover his shift, she’d agreed to come in on her day off and close the store.  It’s a much different clientele than her usual morning shift brings in, but Clary’s always enjoyed closing on the rare days she does.  It’s calmer, the customers more interested in having a place to relax and unwind from their busy days rather than hurrying to get to work or class on time, and the entire vibe of the store changes.

She’s in the middle of sweeping the lobby when the bell on the door chimes and she glances up, surprised to see a familiar face.  Clary pauses for a moment, leaning slightly on the broom handle as she watches Isabelle unwrap the scarf from around her neck before hanging it on the coat hangers set up by the door.

“Hey stranger,” she calls, meeting Isabelle’s smile with one of her own, “What brings you here? Don’t tell me the lab is making you do research in overtime.”

Isabelle’s laugh is crystal clear, and she makes her way over to Clary. “Nah,” she says in a teasing tone, glancing over her shoulder. “We were at my brother’s boyfriend’s club a couple train stops away, and decided we could use some coffee before heading back home.”

Clary follows her gaze over her shoulder and watches as a couple more people stream in the doorway, including the guy that Simon had sworn was Isabelle’s brother and the blonde woman that Clary had seen her with before. Following them, she saw a man dressed in a shirt with what seemed to be glitter on it, whether from sequins or having the loose powder dropped on him though, Clary couldn’t say.

“Clary, these are my brothers and friends. My older brother Alec, his boyfriend Magnus, and our family friend, Lydia.  She’s in town visiting for a few months, and we’ve been showing her around town and all of our favorite spots. Of course, we had to come to my favorite coffee shop, too. Everyone,” Isabelle turned her attention to the small group clustered behind her, “This is Clary, my favorite barista.”

“Simon’s going to be so disappointed when I tell him I’m your favorite,” Clary laughs, waving at the group before waving an arm around the café.  “Well, we’re open for a few more hours, so make yourselves comfortable guys.  Isabelle is in here basically every day, so she should be able to tell you what’s on the menu, but if you have any questions, feel free to ask, and come one by whenever you’re ready.”

She lets her gaze linger on the group as they shuffle further into the lounge before putting the broom away and stepping behind the counter.  She gives the group some time, glancing up every time she hears a laugh coming from their area.  Her focus can’t help but be drawn immediately to where Lydia and Isabelle are sitting, Lydia laughing at something her companion says before pulling her gaze away.  A family friend, Isabelle had introduced her as, though Clary still wonders how close they are.

The door opens once more right as she’s ready to grab her notepad and walk over to the group, and she glances up to see who it was.  Much to her surprise, another unexpected face walks through the door, and Clary finds herself facing Simon.  Who is walking up to the counter, hand in hand with someone she vaguely recognizes as one of his classmates.

“You’re not supposed to be working today,” she says when he reaches her, comfortably walking into the back room to grab his apron before tying it around his waist. The smile that he shoots her way before glancing back toward where his boyfriend has joined Isabelle’s group is something between the dopey smile he usually has on his face whenever he talks about his significant other, and the easygoing smile that he always has.

“Raphael asked me to help cover the last half of the close,” he comments as he walks back behind the counter, name tag and apron securely in place. “I wasn’t going to, because I had plans for tonight, but I remembered you saying that you were covering a close, and thought I’d join you, see if we can’t have a little fun.”

Clary just glances at him with a knowing look, a little laughter reflecting in her eyes. “You sure I’m the only reason you agreed to take the shift?  There’s no other certain reason?”

Simon pretends to look pensive for a moment, but beneath his skin, there’s a slight flush that Clary knows to mean that what she’s said is true.

“Uh, nope, totally not.  Just thought I’d keep my best friend company, that’s all.”

She laughs at him, shaking her head. “So convincing.”

“Oh, shut up,” Simon says, though he’s laughing as well, “If you must know, Raphael and I have a date later on, so it’s not like anything’s gonna happen here at work. Except me watching you moon over Izzy for the whole time, but that happens all the time anyways, so it’s nothing new.”

“You’re the worst, Lewis.”

“Only because I love you, Fray.”

***

They’ve been busy all day, with nonstop drink orders and customers coming in and out, and thought Clary enjoys being so busy that it makes the day go by quickly, she’s ready for a break.  Simon has relieved her as bar barista only a few minutes earlier, and when Raphael says that she’ll be on register for a while to cover a fifteen before going on her lunch, she welcomes the change.  Now, however, with a line growing as more customers come in, and drinks lining up on the bar counter, she just wants to get off the floor for a while.  Her service voice is starting to sound more forced than genuinely pleased to see people, and her cheeks hurt from keeping a smile on her face.  Even her fingers are cramping from holding onto the sharpie for so long, and writing so many cups, which, considering she’s an artist, says something.

A sigh escapes her mouth as she sets down the last drink in a giant order before glancing up at a familiar voice.

“Wow,” says Isabelle, a sympathetic half smile on her face. “You look like I feel.”

“It’s been a busy morning,” Clary replies with a chuckle, motioning to the line of drinks and reaching for a cup in Isabelle’s usual size. “The usual?”

“Actually, no. Just a drip coffee, whatever you have that’s freshest, with a little room.  I’m running late, and need to meet Lydia all the way over in Brooklyn to check out some artist’s work with her.”

“What are you looking at art for?  Decoration?”

Isabelle shakes her head as Clary turns to collect the coffee ordered, “No, Lydia’s moving to the city since she got a good price for a place to relocate her art gallery, and she wants some new pieces.  The rent is higher on this new place, but she has a lot more space, so she wants to fill it up with some things from local artists.  And, don’t tell her I said this, but she’s picky about what she puts on display.  Her husband always laughs about how particular she is, but I guess that’s part of what will make her place such a success.”

Isabelle laughs as she swipes her card through the card reader, but Clary hardly continued listening after the word husband.

***

“Are you ever planning on asking my sister out?”

The voice catches her off guard, and Clary startles, splashing steamed milk over the rim of the pitcher and onto her hand.  She lets out a small hiss as she looks up, surprised to see Alec standing at the handoff bar, staring at her with an eyebrow quirked up.  Since their first introduction, she’s seen him around more, and gotten to know him a bit, but Clary’s still never quite sure what he’s feeling at any given time.  He’s more than charming when he wants to be, and flirts with anyone and everyone, but only has eyes for his boyfriend.  He’s also incredibly smart, has this sort of dry humor that reminds Clary a bit of Luke’s, and is incredibly witty, but she’s never quite sure how he feels about her. Sometimes he can be rather closed off with his reactions and feelings, and she wonders if he also just likes to keep her guessing.

“Excuse me?” She finally finds her voice, wiping her hand on her apron before finishing the drink and calling it out.

Alec just rolls his eyes. “My sister.  Isabelle.  Simon says you like her, as though it’s not painfully obvious to any of us paying attention.  Are you ever going to ask her out?”

Clary can only shake her head, wondering why she’s really surprised that her best friend has mentioned something about her feelings towards Isabelle (he could never keep a secret, even if he wanted to) or that Alec has decided to make it his business.

“I’m working on it,” she says with a sniff, looking away from him and hoping that her tone comes across as offended as she means for it to be. “I have a plan.”

“Sure you do,” he replies with another roll of his eyes, “I just hope you finally get around to it before we’re all old and gray.”

***

Okay, so she doesn’t have a plan to ask Izzy out.  That should be of no surprise to anyone at this point, but there’s a part of her that regrets telling Alec she does, even if it was just to shut him up.  She still didn’t plan on asking her crush out, the fear of being laughed at and rejected still overwhelming and loud in her mind, but Simon’s started saying that she needs to just get it done and over with more and more lately, that she’s considering just ripping off the band aid to get  _ him _ to shut up.

It’s a little embarrassing, that a young woman in her twenties can’t get the courage to just ask someone out on a date, or even something as simple as getting coffee (which would be the easiest thing, considering she’s surrounded by it daily) but here she is.  Overthinking things in ways that she hardly ever does and probably making a fool of herself.

A sigh passes her lips as she drums her fingers on the counter, worrying her lip between her teeth.

“Simon?” she asks, chewing gently when he glances at her. “What exactly did you do when you asked Raphael out?”

The wide smile that creeps over his face should probably worry her more than it does.

***

The notes start out small, because Clary is worried about how they’ll be taken, whether they’re read by Isabelle or anyone else who’s waiting for their drinks.  Sometimes she’ll put a little heart over Isabelle’s name, or add a quick ‘good morning’ or ‘have a great day!’ message, with a smiley face next to the words, but Simon encourages her to be a bit more forward.

“That’s something anyone could say to her,” he points out. “Not exactly conveying the message you want to ask her out.”

And he’s right, of course.  Because he’s Simon, her best friend, and despite being a nerd and terrible around the people he has a crush on himself, he is the only one of the two of them in a relationship currently.

So she starts adding more personalized notes.  A few extra words here, or if it’s slow enough and she manages to set aside a cup before she even sees Isabelle, a small drawing there.  Little steps, she tells Simon, she’s working up her courage.

Simon rolls his eyes, and just shakes his head.  Clary can’t help but think he’s starting to get a bit exasperated with her.

***

There’s a day where she wakes up with the worst cold after getting caught in a downpour after leaving one of Simon’s gigs and has to call in sick to work.  Her mom even comes by to check on her, and Luke calls while he’s doing paperwork at the station and keeps her company over the phone for a while, before having to hang up when his superiors need him for something.

Simon texts her through his entire shift, even if he isn’t supposed to have his phone out on the floor, and keeps her updated on their customers and coworkers, lamenting about how boring his shift is without her.

Between that, Jocelyn’s homemade chicken noodle soup, and lots and lots of crappy daytime movies, Clary’s day is boring.  The only time things get interesting is when Simon texts her to say that Isabelle was in the store a few minutes ago, and immediately noticed Clary’s absence. 

_ She asked where you were, since it wasn’t your normal day off, _ his text reads,  _ And I told her you were sick.  She said to feel better, and that if she could, she would make you some soup, but that it would probably just make you feel worse.  She also said she missed seeing you, and hopes you’ll be back on your feet soon.  Apparently you’re her favorite barista?! _

Clary’s grinning by the time she composes a reply to Simon, and sends the text before burrowing deeper into her covers and pressing play on The Holiday.

***

“You’re back!” Clary hears Isabelle’s voice before she sees her, and she glances up from where she’s wiping down the counter to grin at the girl standing across from her. “Feeling better?”

“Much,” she nods, her smile widening a bit as she does. “As much as I enjoy having a few days off work, it’s hard to do much when your entire body aches and you don’t feel like moving.”

Isabelle’s nose wrinkles in a way Clary can only find adorable, and she laughs. “Yeah, my younger brother Max got something over the weekend, and he’s just recovering now.  Must be that time of year.”

Clary shakes her head, glad to be over her own bout of sickness. “Wouldn’t be winter if one of us didn’t get sick,” she says, before reaching for a cup, already marking her order, “The usual?”

“Por favor.”

Clary nods, finishing her little note before setting the cup on the bar, and finishing up the transaction.

***

It takes a few days before she gets a text from Isabelle, and when she finally does, Clary is about ready to pounce on her phone.

_ So, do you give your number out to every customer you see more than a couple times a day, or am I just the lucky one? _ her text reads, and Clary laughs.  It’s been a couple days since she’d jotted down her phone number on Isabelle’s cup, finally taking the leap that Simon had been pushing her to do.  The silence had made her wonder if maybe Isabelle had just finished her coffee and tossed the cup before seeing the message, or if she should take the lack of communication as a sign that she isn’t interested.

_ No, _ she starts her reply, fingers gliding over the keyboard,  _ I’ve thought about doing it for others I’m sure wouldn’t end up harassing me, but you’re the only one I’ve actually ever given it to. _

She can see the little gray speech bubble blinking as Isabelle types, and holds her breath as she waits to see the reply.

_ Oh? Am I the only one who’s gotten it so far, or am I just one of many? _

_ Well. Let’s just say you’re the most interesting. (; _

Isabelle types faster this time, and Clary wonders if she’s waiting with her phone open for her reply.

_ So is this your way of asking me out? _

It shouldn’t surprise her that Isabelle gets straight to the point, but Clary still needs a few moments to type and retype her response before she finally sends it.

_ That depends. Would you say yes if I did? _

For seconds that stretch into eternity, the little gray bubble blinks before disappearing.

_ How about Friday night? Meet me at seven? _

***

She shouldn’t be this nervous about a date, especially considering it’s not her first one, but it is her first one with  _ Isabelle _ .  The girl she’s had a crush on since she saw her come in to the café for the first time, and took her order with jumbled words.  So, okay, maybe it makes sense that she’s as nervous as she is.

Clary’s waiting just outside the university main entrance where Isabelle told her she’d meet her, bouncing on the balls of her feet and wrapped up in her layers to keep warm.  It’s a couple hours after her shift ended for the day, and she’s glad that that it gave her a chance to go home, shower, and change, but it also means that she’s early to their date, and she’s standing outside in the cold like an idiot.

She glances over at the café across the street, trying to decide whether she has enough time to run and grab them a couple cups of coffee before returning to meet up with Izzy, but quickly decides against it as she hears her name.

“Hey!” Isabelle greets her when she reaches her, still tying a scarf around her neck as she switches her bag from one shoulder to the other.  Her eyes are bright, and her cheeks are tinted just slightly from the cold, and Clary once again feels that nervousness at the fact that she’s got a date with this girl.  “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” she replies, allowing herself a small chuckle to distract herself from her nerves before glancing at Isabelle, just now noticing the picnic basket in her hand. “Where are we going exactly?”

Izzy just grins at her, linking her arm with Clary’s before leading her across the street when the light turns green.  “I thought it would be fun to have a picnic in Central Park.”

“But it’s winter,” Clary protests, though she doesn’t stop or pull away, just shakes her head with a small laugh, “and you said you don’t cook.”

This time it’s Isabelle who laughs. “Don’t worry, I didn’t cook.  It’s all take out from what Simon’s told me is your favorite restaurant in town.  As for it being winter, what does that have to do with anything?  Sure, summer is better for picnics, but we’re both wearing winter coats and appropriate dress wear, so it’s not like we’ll freeze to death.”

When she looks back over at Clary, she’s got a teasing smile on her face.

“If you think it’ll be better, we can always get some coffee to take.  I know this pretty great place, with a super cute barista.”

***

It turns out that Clary doesn’t have much to worry about when it comes to the date.  She had worried that maybe outside of their typical setting, there wouldn’t be much to say to each other, and they’d find that they didn’t have much in common, but she’d been wrong about that.  Isabelle tells her more about her family, even repeats some of the things she already knows about them, and in turn Clary tells her about her mom and Luke, and even a bit more about Simon.

She tells her stories about how they’d been engaged when they were eight, before Clary realized she liked girls a whole lot more than boys, and even tells her about the massive crush she’d been harboring.  Much to her surprise, Izzy only laughs, shrugging one shoulder before saying, “I kept waiting for you to ask me out,” like it was no big deal.

“You did?” Clary asks, her tone surprised before she shakes her head. “You could have just asked me out, you know.”

“Yeah, but for a bit I wasn’t sure if you were oblivious about me liking you, or if you just weren’t into me. Then you started writing notes like Simon said he did with his boyfriend, and I wanted to see where you’d take it.”

“You’re terrible.” Clary laughs, reaching over to gently shove Isabelle’s shoulder, causing her to laugh.

“True, but clearly it’s one of the things you like me for.”

At that, Clary only hums, neither confirming or denying the claim as they fall into a comfortable silence.  Isabelle’s the first one to break it a few moments later.

“Hey, Clary?”

“Yeah?”

“Since we’re dating now, does this mean I get free coffee?”

Clary laughs, shaking her head. “Maybe.  You said you knew this awesome place with a super cute barista, so maybe you could talk her into it.”


End file.
